Transcript Safeguarding in Schools: Child Protection Update

Safeguarding: Working Together to
Safeguard Children 2011
CHESELBOURNE VILLAGE
S C H O OL
(UPDATE SESSION)
1 6 TH N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 1
Alison Gadd
Children’s Services Safeguarding Trainer
Safeguarding Officers- Angela Burr & Ginny
Daniells
01305 221122
Objectives
By the end of the session you should be reminded of:
 Your legal responsibilities
 How to recognise abuse and neglect
 What to do if you are worried about a pupil’s welfare
 How to work safely
Child Protection Training
 Supports your school’s child protection procedures and
other safeguarding policies, which you must read
 Often deals with sensitive issues – look after yourself
 Keep a sense of proportion
 Questions and contributions are welcome but we will not
discuss specific cases, which are confidential
Safeguarding in Schools: Best Practice
 Rigorous safeguarding policies and procedures in place, written in plain English,
compliant with statutory requirements and updated regularly; in particular,
clear and coherent child protection policies.
 Child protection arrangements that are accessible to everyone, so that pupils and
families, as well as adults in the school, know who they can talk to if they are
worried.
 Excellent communication systems with up-to-date information that can be
accessed and shared by those who need it.
 A high priority given to training in safeguarding, generally going beyond basic
requirements, extending expertise widely and building internal capacity.
 Robust arrangements for site security, understood and applied by staff and
pupils.
September 2011
Case studies
What should you do?
What do you think should happen next?
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Maisie
Ryan
Christopher
Mrs X
10 minutes
Why are we here?
 NSPCC counsellors referred a record 16,385
serious cases to Social Care/Police in 2010/11
 This was a 37% rise from the previous year
 67 Serious Case Reviews between April &
September 2010 concerned 93 children, 39 of
whom died
 The tendency was to overlook the roles played by
fathers & male partners. Risks were noted, but
not the useful information they sometimes had.
NSPCC & Ofsted April 2011
Why are we here?
 42,300 children were the subjects of a child protection
plan in England at 31 March 2011 - DfE (39,100 at
31/03/10- an increase of 8%)
 In Dorset 346 children are the subjects of a child
protection plan (30th Spetember 2011)
Sept 2008 172 plans
Nov 08 Baby P first reported in the media
Mar 2009
225 plans (Lord Laming’s report published)
Sept 2009 331 plans
Mar 2010
346 plans
April 2011 305 plans
 293 Dorset children are ‘Looked After’ – 141 because of
abuse and neglect- 48.1% (30th September 2011)
Safeguarding is everyone’s business
Baby M
‘…a family where there were
interacting risk factors which were
indicative of increased risk to the
children’
Child C
‘The failure of agencies to act, assess or proactively
share information combined with the limited parenting
capacity of the vulnerable parent of a child with a potentially
life threatening condition resulted in tragic consequences’
Baby C
‘This was a ‘difficult’ family to work with. Both
parents were adept at complying with professionals
just enough to allow a false sense of security to
prevail’
Family S3
‘The floor and fittings in the bathroom were covered in human
and animal excrement and other rooms were in a foul state
cluttered with furniture and possessions. The house as a
whole smelt strongly of urine’
Why are we here?
Every week, (on average), in
England and Wales one child is
killed by his/her parents or
carers
NSPCC 2009
LAUNCH OF NSPCC HELPLINE MOBILE PHONE
TEXTING SERVICE
 The NSPCC Helpline has launched a mobile phone
texting service which will allow members of the
public to contact the Helpline by texting 88858.
 The public can send a text anonymously if they wish
at no cost to themselves. On receipt of the text the
Helpline will send an immediate automated
confirmation response and then a specific response to
their enquiry from a Helpline practitioner within
three hours.
A reminder of your legal responsibilities
Key legislation for all agencies
The Children Act 1989
 Catalyst for numerous changes and modernisation for the protection
and support of children
 The paramountcy principle
 Partnership with parents
 Duty on agencies to co-operate in the interest of children
Children Act 2004
 Came out of the Victoria Climbie inquiry
 Legislation supporting ‘Every Child Matters: Change for Children’ – To
be repealed….”The Big Society”
 Duty on local authorities to safeguard and promote the welfare of
children (Section 11)
Key legislation for schools
 Education Act 2002
Sect 175 – Requires LAs and the governing bodies of maintained
schools (and FE institutions) to make arrangements to ensure that
their functions are carried out with a view to safeguarding and
promoting the welfare of pupils (same duty applies to
independent schools – sect 157)
They must also have regard to relevant guidance issued by the
Secretary of State
‘Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education’ is the
key guidance (Jan 2007)- Under review
This section came about as a result of the death of Lauren Wright
Every school must have....
 Child Protection procedures (what to do if….) that everyone has read
 Procedures for:
- managing allegations against staff (Under review)
- safer recruitment and selection
- ‘whistle blowing’
 A DSP (Designated Senior Person for Child Protection) and at least one
deputy, trained in inter-agency working
 A nominated governor for child protection (Who is yours?)
 Training for all staff and volunteers
Policies, legislation, structures and
procedures are, of course, of immense
importance, but …. It is the robust and
consistent implementation of policies and
procedures which keeps children and
young people safe
The Protection of Children in England: A Progress Report
The Lord Laming, March 2009
‘The extent of the failure to protect
Victoria was lamentable…there were
failures at every level and in every
organisation’
Lord Laming
‘…lots of times, often, she (Lauren)
was covered with lots of small bruises
and with major bruises about once a
month. These included black eyes,
bruising on her face and scratches
across her back”
Class teacher
‘Baby Peter’s horrifying death could
and should have been prevented’
Second Serious Case Review
Haringey 2009
Child Abuse and Neglect
Do not make assumptions
Children who are abused are.....
any child, any age, any background
People who abuse children can be....
anyone
However, some children are more vulnerable to
abuse than others.....
What constitutes abuse and neglect?
“Abuse and neglect are forms of maltreatment of a
child. Somebody may abuse or neglect a child by
inflicting harm, or by failing to act to prevent
harm. Children may be abused in a family or in
an institutional or community setting, by those
known to them or, more rarely, by a stranger for
example, via the internet. They may be abused by
an adult or adults or another child or children”
2010
Under Review: Due Summer 2012
Categories of abuse – A reminder
Physical Abuse
Sexual Abuse
Emotional Abuse
Neglect
Taking action
Munro Report- Part Two (February 2011)
 The child protection system is a multi‐professional, multi‐agency
operation requiring all who work with children, young people and
families to consider the effectiveness of their work
 The child protection system should be child‐centred, recognising
children and young people as individuals with rights, including their
right to participation
 The complexity of the world means that uncertainty and risk are
features of child protection work and that risk management cannot
eliminate harm, only reduce its occurrence
Case study
 Maisie
Taking action – where there is no disclosure
or evidence of abuse
 If you have any concerns about a child, it is
important to share them with
- the class teacher (if appropriate) and
- the DSP (Have you got a concern form?)
 Other people might also be worried (or there
might be an explanation for the child’s
behaviour)
 Make sure a discussion with the DSP is recorded,
including the outcome
Neglect and emotional abuse
 Can be difficult to identify
 Try to work with parents/carers
 Remember to record concerns
 Consider a CAF if more than one agency involved
 Abuse does not consist of a single incident but is
chronic and on-going
Children and Significant Harm
 In Dorset 346 children were the subjects of a
child protection plan on 30 September 2011, in
the following categories*:
 Neglect
 Emotional abuse
 Physical Abuse
 Sexual abuse
151
122
37
36
Boys
Girls Unborn
80
69
2
62
59
1
23
14
0
12
24
0
Child factors and
Experiences
• Very young babies
• Illness in babies
• Older child hard to help
• Sexual exploitation
• Going missing
• Bullying
• Suicide
• Disability
• Chronic illness
Family and
environmental factors
• Domestic violence
• Substance misuse
• Mental ill health
• Fathers hostility
• Criminal convictions
• Patterns of hostility
• Patterns of compliance
• History of neglect
• Previous child death
• Poverty
• Poor living conditions
• Frequent house moves
• Accidents
Practice/professionals and
agency factors
Agency context
• Capacity
• Organisational climate
• Preoccupation with
thresholds
• Professional anxiety
• Reluctance to act
• Professional challenge
• Supervision
• Ethnicity challenges
• Understanding neglect
• Dealing with neglect
• ‘start again syndrome’
• Communication
• Keeping track of families
• Child not seen/heard
‘Family S3’
 Recognition of neglect as child abuse
 Understanding that having to provide ‘significant compensatory care’
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for a child should trigger a child protection referral to Social Care
Questioning ‘what must it be like to be a child in this household?’ and
the importance of seeing the child in the family home to inform
assessments
Understanding that because the family is ‘unconventional’ or lives in
a rural setting does not make neglect more acceptable
Importance of accurate record keeping and taking account of history
when making decisions
Need to take advice and escalate concerns through management
structures when other agencies do not act
Responding to a disclosure of
physical or sexual abuse
Case studies
 Ryan
 Christopher
Taking action: You Should.....
 Listen carefully
 Clarify the facts if necessary, using open
questions (remember TED), but do not
interrogate or ask more than you need to
 Re-assure the young person, if required
 Pass on the information only to those who need
to know
Common pitfalls
You should not
 Promising to keep secrets
 Asking too many questions
 Asking the child to repeat the disclosure to
anyone else
 Making judgments about whether s/he is telling
the truth, even if the s/he has been untruthful in
the past or has made previous allegations
 Asking the child or witnesses to write a
‘statement’
 Informing parents/carers
Case study
 Mrs X
In conclusion
• Education staff have a crucial role to play in
helping identify welfare concerns and
indicators of possible abuse or neglect at an
early stage
• Over 60% of referrals to Dorset Social Care
come from education staff
 Any Comments or Questions ?